Summary: Jesus was not only crucified but he became a curse for us.

The crucifixion was a horrifying experience. It was a method of torture. Beatings, the crushing of bones, tearing of flesh was some of the things that Jesus faced. But Jesus went through something else for us. The bible says he became a curse for us.

Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

The definition of a curse has a few meanings.

An appeal or prayer for evil or misfortune to befall someone or something.

One that is accursed.

A source or cause of evil; a scourge: “Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race” (William Ewart Gladstone).

A profane word or phrase; a swearword.

To invoke evil or misfortune upon; damn.

To swear at.

To bring evil upon.

Katara – denotes an “execration” meaning the act of cursing, a curse or something that is cursed or loathed. Something uttered out of maliciousness, a wishing evil to another.

PT 1: SIN BROUGHT CURSES

Gen 3:14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

You will crawl and you will eat dust.

Gen 3:17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ’You must not eat of it,’ "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

Gen 3:18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

A result of the cursing was now the land would produce thorns and thistles.

Gen 4:11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.

Gen 4:12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth." Gen 4:13 Cain said to the LORD, "My punishment is more than I can bear. Gen 4:14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence; I will be a restless wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."

Curses in the bible brought about a great deal of suffering.

Num 5:11 Then the LORD said to Moses,

Num 5:12 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ’If a man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him Num 5:13 by sleeping with another man, and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), Num 5:14 and if feelings of jealousy come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure--or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure--Num 5:15 then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour on her behalf. He must not pour oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a reminder offering to draw attention to guilt. Num 5:16 "’The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the LORD. Num 5:17 Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. Num 5:18 After the priest has had the woman stand before the LORD, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse.

Num 5:19 Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, "If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you.

Num 5:20 But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have defiled yourself by sleeping with a man other than your husband"--

Num 5:21 here the priest is to put the woman under this curse of the oath--" may the LORD cause your people to curse and denounce you when he causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell. Num 5:22 May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells and your thigh wastes away. " "’Then the woman is to say, "Amen. So be it."Num 5:23 "’The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water. Num 5:24 He shall have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water will enter her and cause bitter suffering.